Riches and Wealth

25 Sept 2017

Money and wealth are two different things. This comes to mind as I read my wisdom verse this morning:

“Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.” Proverbs 11:4 (KJV)

The sad lament of most of us, sometime in our lives goes something like this. “Gee, I didn’t think THAT would happen.” Get ready to join the club if you haven’t done so yet. This “Day of Wrath” can mean the final day of God’s judgment, but it also refers to any time life kicks all our props out from under us and tests us to the very core of who we are. Money talks, but what if it says goodbye? How would I do if things got really bleak? I don’t know. Yeah, I like to make a buck every now and then, but Solomon offers some good advice. Don’t let even the honest pursuit of money distract you. Work on deeper things, like building up the inner strengths that will see you through tough times. Those times come to us all, one way or another.

By the way, doing right is a skill, like learning to ride a bicycle. Plan on some wobbles. Plan on falling off. Make amends when needed. Then get back on and pedal.

Long ago I bought into Y2K, the idea that lots of computers would fail because many of the old systems lacked the four digits to convert a 1999 year to a 2000. I panicked. The stakes were high; the risks unknown. After it came and went, I gave it much thought.

In my head, I knew that people can live on much less, but in my heart I was not sure if I was one of them. In the end, I found that most of my becoming a “prepper” was being done on Sunday Mornings. There I was taught to put my trust in something and someone far deeper and surer than all those stacks of canned tuna fish in my closet. This verse tells me that doing right offers a kind of safety that the corrupt will never enjoy.

Someone once said, “Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.” No bank closings can touch that.

Published in Pagosa Sun 15 Nov 2018, titled, "The Difference Between Riches and Wealth." http://www.pagosasun.com/the-difference-between-riches-and-wealth/